There´s loads of great events taking place across the island this month. Including the annual Jazz Canarias Festival in Teguise, the Spanish Kiteboarding Championship in Famara and the Gay Pride Festival in Puerto del Carmen.
Jazz Canarias
The annual Jazz Canarias festival returns to Lanzarote on Saturday July 9th for the only concert scheduled on the island this year. The Miguel Zenon Quartet will be appearing at the outdoor event in the historic heart of Teguise. Entrance is free and the concert begins at 21.00.
Zenon is a Puerto Rican saxophone player who has garnered an international following as a result of his collaboration in 2004 with the San Francisco Jazz Collective, where he played with Joe Lovano and Joshua Redman amongst others. The group have produced five live recordings which all met with critical acclaim. More recently Zenon has concentrated on composing his own works which combine an intellectual sophistication with his own knowledge of the street. This solo career has brought two prestigious awards – the MacArthur and the Guggenheim prizes – to this twenty-first century jazz musician.
Taking the stage after Miguel Zenon is the talented vocalist, Sharrie Williams. Brought up in Michigan, Sharrie first began singing at the age of twelve, when she was one of the soloists of the Greater Williams Temple Inspirational Voices. Since then, her musical career has seen her branch out from gospel music to embrace the blues, soul and jazz. She cites artists such as Etta James, Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin as her greatest influences.
Concert in the Caves
The celebrated baritone singer John Morgan will be appearing alongside Zimbabwean soprano Kim Brown at the Cueva de los Verdeson Saturday 17th July. Both will be accompanied by the classical British pianist Robin Colvill and the programme will feature numerous arias from some of the best known operas.
Tickets cost €15 per person for the concert on its own or €60 per person for the concert and a three course dinner at the Jameos del Agua. Tickets can be purchased from any of the ticket offices at the Centres of Art and Culture, such as the Jameos del Agua and the Cactus Garden.
Spanish Kiteboarding Championship :: Famara
From 7th to 11th July, head to Famara to see some of the most spectacular examples of airborne antics, as the annual Spanish Kiteboarding Championship gets underway.
As in previous years, the contest is being organized by the Cabildo of Lanzarote alongside CD Kitezone, the Spanish Association of Kiteboarding and the Spanish Sailing Federation. Participants will be judged according to age categories in three separate fields of freestyle, race and waves.
Exhibition at the César Manrique Foundation
The show featuring Spanish poet José-Miguel Ullán continues this month at the César Manrique Foundation in Tahiche, with examples of this writer’s first editions of his own books, along with photos, drawings and works created in collaboration with other artists.
Ullán was a prominent figure in Spanish cultural life, even when he lived in exile in France. After 1976 he returned to Spain, where he was increasingly involved in cultural events, such as the arts programme ‘Tatuaje’ (Tattoo) for which he was a presenter. He organized numerous art exhibitions featuring the new ‘plastic arts’ as well as developing his own style of visual representations, which he called ‘agrafismos’.
The exhibition is entitled ‘Seen and Not Seen’ and has numerous examples of Ullán’s ‘agrafismos’, small drawings that he used to illustrate his poetry. It runs until 3rd October at the Foundation Cesar Manrique in Tahiche.
Gay Pride Festival
Saturday 17th July sees the Lanzarote Gay Pride Festival celebrating in style with a parade along the main Avenida de las Playas of Puerto del Carmen.
The parade gets underway at 17.00 at the San Antonio hotel and ends at the Fariones hotel at the other end of town. Expect performances from the Lady Gaga Tribute from London and the Kitty Kat Dolls from Scotland. As well as the Villa Pipol Batucada drum band. Who will all be appearing during the evening as part of a live music show being staged by the McDonalds on the main Avenida de las Playas.
